Everyday Heroes: Woman harvests her good fortune and shares it with hungry

Wormser founded Inland Harvest in 1990 and has since made it her quest to feed the hungry. Inland Harvest is a nonprofit organization that delivers food to food banks throughout the Inland Empire.

In the early days Wormser said Inland Harvest managed to deliver about 1,000 pounds of food in its first three months.

Today Inland Harvest delivers an average of 140,000 pounds of food every month.

Inland Harvest, on a daily basis, picks up surplus food from restaurants, cafeterias, caterers, bakeries and markets and delivers it to shelters and community food programs. Since its 1990 debut Inland Harvest has transported more than 18,000,000 pounds of good food to an assortment of locations in the Inland Empire.

"Every now and then I do take a step back," said Wormser, now 75. "We've grown so much more than I ever thought it would."

Unfortunately it seems like an never ending task.

"I can tell you, say at the Salvation Army, the people who are waiting in line for a meal are well aware of when we come," Wormser said. "We often get `thank yous' from those people who are sitting out there."

Inland Harvest is run and operated completely by volunteers, right now the number is at about 80. Inland Harvest covers the territory from Yucaipa and Calimesa to Ontario and from Moreno Valley to Norco and out toward Chino. Over the years Inland Harvest has added a number of fast food chains, grocery stores and individual businesses to its roster of partners.

"There is something about knowing that you are really helping someone," Wormser said. "It's a hard thing to see what people are going through. But at the same time we are trying to put quite a few locations out there for them to get the help. And by getting them food we hope we are getting them the help they need."

Helping the hungry was an issue Wormser embraced long before she founded Inland Harvest. Wormser saw the need while a member of the Redlands City Council. Wormser, an active Redlander, served on the board between 1985 and 1989.

It was Wormser, in fact, who worked for the approval of Measure O, a $6.5 million bond issue to upgrade and expand parks and open space in the area.

"I really enjoyed the council," Wormser said. "I feel like I made a difference."

Wormser, while still on the city council, said she was a part of concerned citizens who gathered to discuss the issue of helping the hungry, it was a meeting that eventually led to the creating of Inland Harvest.

"We could see the need," Worsmer said. "We all pulled together and discussed how can we best deal with it."

Wormser added, "We were all aware of it. I can't think of a city that doesn't have to worry about it."

Wormser, the mother of three and the grandmother of three, continues to maintain a busy schedule, conducting pick up and deliveries throughout the week.